Compare scenarios side by side
Compare scenarios in bluprnts — a plain verdict, cash and profit plotted per scenario, and a table of revenue, margin, profit and the cash you'd need.
Compare puts your scenarios next to each other over the full forecast period and tells you which one leaves the business best off. It leads with the answer, then shows the evidence: a verdict, two plots, and a side-by-side table.
1. Choose what to compare#
In the scenario rail, use the tick on each scenario row to add it to the comparison. Base is always included.
Switching to Compare with nothing chosen yet selects every scenario for you, so your first look is the whole picture — then untick to narrow it.
2. Switch to Compare#
Use the Build / Compare toggle in the page header.
3. Read the verdict first#
The panel at the top names the winning scenario and says, in a sentence, what it does better and by how much. It is the same conclusion you would reach from the table below it — read it first, then use the rest to check the reasoning.
4. Read the plots#
One metric selector drives two charts side by side:
- The totals plot — each scenario as its own line over the period, base included.
- The gap plot — the same metric as the distance between each scenario and base.
The gap plot is the more useful of the two whenever the scenarios are close together: differences that are invisible at full scale are obvious once base is flattened out.
Three metrics are available, and the selector opens on the first:
| Metric | What it plots |
|---|---|
| Closing balance | Running bank balance across the period |
| Total revenue | Cumulative sales, month by month |
| Profit after tax | Cumulative profit once every cost is paid |
Cash comes first deliberately — running out of it is the only outcome that ends the plan.
If your plan has nothing to forecast yet, the plots say so: "No forecast to plot yet — add products, sales and costs to your plan."
5. Read the table#
One column per scenario, with base marked as the baseline and every other column read vs base. The best value in each row is highlighted, and a bar shows how far each scenario moves that row relative to the biggest move in it.
| Row | Better when |
|---|---|
| Total revenue | Higher |
| Gross profit | Higher |
| Gross margin | Higher |
| Operating profit | Higher |
| Profit after tax | Higher |
| Closing balance | Higher |
| Max cash needed | Lower |
Max cash needed is the row that inverts, and it is the one that decides whether a scenario is actually available to you. A plan that wins on every other row but needs more cash than you can raise is not a plan.
The last row, Changes applied, lists what each scenario actually does — each lever or targeted change with its size, and the scope it is narrowed to. Base reads "No changes — baseline".
Related#
- Edit a scenario's assumptions — change what a scenario does and watch the comparison move.
- Set the working case — commit to the one you picked.
- Build a report — put the case you've made in front of an investor, lender or board.